Bad Moon Rising

Can I ask a general question?

Why are Islamo-fascists so fixated on air planes? Seriously. I know there were a few bridge plots in there, but the overwhelming majority of attacks are directed at airplanes. Why? Strategically I mean. As inept as it was in the wake of the "underwear bomber" (we've got to stop giving them such goofy names, it undercuts the seriousness of the matter) airport security may seem laughable, but it IS one of the few public venues in American life that does have a security apparatus. God forbid, and I don't mean to "give them ideas", but a crowded Avatar theater, or Christmas shopping mall, wouldn't that be a terrifying location for an explosive to go off? You may be able to avoid air flight in your daily life but try avoiding a grocery store for any length of time. Why do they forgo these soft targets? Yes, there is some innate, added fear of being blown up thousands of miles in the air, with no where to run, literally; but what would it do to commerce in this nation if 2 or 3 busy shopping centers were detonated on "black Friday?" Again, I have no doubt in my mind that they have considered these ideas and rejected them, so I'm hardly giving any Jihadi a hereto unthought of plan. But that's precisely what's gotten my curiosity stirred - they have rejected the idea thus far.

Let me go in another direction. Gun ownership is a Constitutional right, correct? Yet I have to get at a minimum of an instant background check to buy even a hunting rifle at a sporting goods store, let alone a handgun at a real gun shop. But air travel, that's a privilege. I have no unalienable right to an airline seat. So why doesn't a privilege require at least as much scrutiny as one of my Constitutional Rights? A Yemen based Nigerian can purchase a ticket in cash and there is no instant background check in place that would provide AT LEAST the same level of security as my local Wal Mart were I to buy a Remington Bolt Action Rifle? Does that seem right to you?

Another angle, as I round out my free association inquisition ... El Al. The Israeli airline. They haven't one documented case of a high jacking, nor have they ever lost a single plane to explosives nor purposeful crash. Why? This is the ONLY nation whom draws the blood thirsty ire of the radical Islamic terrorist more than the US, yet they have successfully prevented any airline catastrophe. I do know this, as it pertains to answering the question of "why?" While you, as a potential passenger, are in line to board an El Al craft a plain clothed man will be working the line, having casual conversations. He will talk to you about your trip, your family, seemingly innocuous stuff, right? Wrong. He is an Israeli security officer. He looks for any sign that might "give you away" were you intending foul play. And let me be clear - he does that in line IN New York City, NOT just Tel Aviv. And as I hear all of this chatter about new scanners, puffer machines that detect explosive residue, etc etc, I am reminded of a quote by an El Al official when comparing their airline security with ours - "You look for the weapon, we look for the terrorist." Now I realize there are infinitely more airports in the US than in Israel, but I think that we could learn a lot from them on how a democracy deals with airport security, that's all. Something tells me that even the most jr. Mossad agent or El Al security officer isn't hung up on the political correctness of "profiling." Of course that's going to happen when you're surrounded by about 800 million people that would like to push you into the Red Sea ... this time, no Moses. At some point if we know the approximate age, religion, ethnicity and sex of the potential offender it ceases to be profiling and becomes quite simply a description of the suspect. But I digress ...

One more ... are we at war? Seriously, are we? I tend to think we have an army at war, but not a nation. And certainly not a President. The "condom bomber" (again, with the names) was arrested and promptly given a lawyer. A foreign national, suspected of an act of war, or at the very least a crime against humanity. Is that not a 9/10 mentality? Going back to "terror" being a matter of criminal law? Think about this - he, as it has come to be known, trained recently in Yemen at an Al Qeada camp. He was escorted to the ticket counter by a fellow Nigerian (presumably), male, in a suit, whom inquired as to the bombers ability to board the plane without a proper passport. Given all this, how much Intel could our new detainee potentially have? GITMO should have been his next destination. Or at least Egypt. Nothing like a little rendition to a nation with no Bill of Rights to get the ol' vocal cords loosened up. But alas, with neither a president at war to order it, nor a nation at war to demand it, it does not happen. He'll get the same lawyer as a 16 year old kid who holds up a 7/11 ... and the same rights. And yet tomorrow we will ask a 19 year old Marine to get up and fight the war on terror in a dust ridden hell hole half away around the world. Does that sound like a nation seeking victory to you?